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Monday, October 25, 2010

A Portrait of the Blogger as a Young Dork

Readers, before I was a thirty-something dork obsessed with tailoring, I was a young dork obsessed with unicorns. In fact, one of my first independent sewing projects was a felt unicorn throw pillow, made in Home Economics. My mother is a fellow crafty person, and she indulged this love of magical horned ponies by knitting the sweater you see above. If you're a knitter, you'll know that a unicorn sweater is no small feat—it's a triumph of intarsia!

I thought you'd enjoy what she wrote on the back of the above picture:

Anyway, my mom and I were talking about THE SWEATER! yesterday. I just so happen to have a work function this week for which I need a unicorn-themed costume. (Long story. Let's just say I'm still Team Unicorn.) Well, Mom still has THE SWEATER! around; she refers to it as "her masterpiece," for obvious reasons. Do you see where this story is going, readers? The unicorn sweater is on its way back to me! And I'm going to attempt to squeeze into it! I'm so psyched.

Now I just need to get to work on making a sparkly horn and coordinating the rest of my ensemble. Back when the sweater was first made, I used wear it to school with the cutest matching purple corduroy skirt. (Yeah, I was so stylin'.) I'll have to see what I have in my wardrobe now that will do it the same justice.

Now, before you lambaste my young personal style, remember that this was during the heyday of Lisa Frank paraphenalia.

I have to say, I still get a little giddy when I see Lisa Frank stuff. Ah, memories.

I'm not really sure what this post has to do with sewing, but there you have it. GO TEAM UNICORN!!!!

54 comments:

When I was in second grade, a class project was to create an educational poster about an animal, and then give a short talk presenting your poster to the class--where your animal lived, what it liked to eat, that kind of thing. I chose...the unicorn. And produced a poster, complete with citations from a bestiary (bless my then-librarian mother), all about the unicorn's natural habitat and migration patterns. I think this anecdote alone is a pretty perfect summary of just how dorky a little kid I was.

I was oddly enough just thinking about Lisa Frank stuff the other day... I forget what prompted it, but I was musing over how in love I was with all the brightly colored illustrations! That merchandise was such a hot commodity among my middle school-age pals. ;) lol.

I can't believe you found that picture! I still love that sweater and I don't care what anyone says - you were not dorky - you were adorable. Only a mother can say that! The sweater will be on its way this morning!

I have a unicorn story you might appreciate.So I too, am of the Lisa Frank trapper keeper with neon hearts and unicorns era and when I was in second grade my best friend Tricia, and I had matching ambitions to grow up and get Unicorns for y'know general unicorning purposes. When adults would ask what we wanted to be when we grew up, we'd always reply with "A Unicorn" in awesome kid deadpan to see what they would say. I will say that I loved them, but she LOVED them. Anyway, the following year she went to different school due to rezoning and we fell out of touch. Seven years later and we met up again in history class on the first day of high school. My last name is Byrd and hers is Caldwell so of course we were seated next to each other. We were happy to see each other, but I had grown into a trash-talking pink-haired obnoxious faux punk and she was a raging band nerd with clarinet tshirts blazing so yeah, we didn't have much in common.Anyway, after about a month of classes we got comfortable talking again (meaning I got over my badass self) and asked her, hey remember when we were kids and we'd tell people we were going to be unicorns when we grew up? and she looked straight at me, and replied, "Actually, I still am planning on that".

talkin' bout my generation. We must be the same age...I too was obsessed with unicorns (didn't Rainbow Brite ride one? Wasn't there a My Little Pony unicorn or two). That sweater is indeed a work of art. What a feat!

You looked adorable in The Sweater^^, my mum made me a few of these animal/character themed homemade sweaters when I was a kid and she still has them too! And at least you keep your unicorn love for costume parties, I actually walk out with Hello Kitty clothes/stuff on me :)

Rainbow Bright's horse, Starlight, wasn't a unicorn but did have a gold star on his head.

She-Ra's horse, Swift Wind, had a unicorn horn (but not when she was untransformed, plain ol' Adora). I was never sure if it was a real unicorn, however, as on the toy the horn was just a part of the bridle.

(I'm allowed to know all that because of my husband and I's long quest to dig up old 80s cartoons for our kids to watch. also I'm a major dork.)

I was Team Dragon, personally (is there a Team Dragon? I hope so) but I did make a lovely filet-crochet of a unicorn during high-school. If I can find it I'll take a picture.

Somewhere, in boxes of old clothes I have a lilac unicorn sweater, too... only it's a RTW unicorn print. My sister wore it, too. And I had lots of the Lisa Frank stuff, I still have a trapper keeper around in boxes of school supplies with a unicorn scene on it, and there's a unicorn blanket wadded up at the foot of my bed right now. (It's warm!) So, Gertie, you're not alone.

I think it's the age bracket. All of us girls growing up in the 80s and 90s had unicorn obsessions, partially brought on by mass marketing. Unicorns were everywhere for a while there!

If I had gone to school with you, I would have been so jealous! I was just telling someone the other day how I would like to have my own unicorn. Of course I also come from the Lisa Frank era.Can your mom make me one?

Oh you're adorable! I love dorks and young dorks in particular. I'd forgotten how...loud Lisa Frank was, and yet I can clearly remember the feeling of desperately wanting some folders with her designs on them but knowing that my mom would say that the plain ones work just as well.

You might be over the whole sewing scenes in movies yesterday, but I watched a lot of TV yesterday and the Corpse Bride was one and they had a cute scene with some spiders helping Victor patch up his suit in the song "The Wedding Song": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-srbkpKCxQ

I love unicorns in an ironic way. But secretly really love them. So much that I have been a unicorn twice for halloween. Who can resist dressing up as a magical creature? My Unicorn Costumes!!! I think I would be a unicorn again... except that my friend is using the headpiece for a my little pony costume.

Wow, I haven't thought about Lisa Frank in a long time! When we purchased school supplies for grade school, my mom would only let me choose one Lisa Frank folder because they were so much more expensive than the plain colored ones. So I had to decide which subject was special enough for that folder.

Ah, Lisa Frank. My mom still has my sticker album, organized by category, with a whole section devoted to unicorns. I spent all my allowance on stickers... And now I spend it on fabric. So, yes, still a dork.

Yes! I was (am) totally Team Unicorn. Unicorns, but also carousel horses; they're just so darn whimsical! I definitely made a unicorn latch hook in elementary school. Unicorn. Latch hook. Nerdiness upon nerdiness. Your sweater is stirring up much jealousy :)

yay team unicorn! I love Lisa Frank, now that I passed through the obligatory "I no longer find that cool b/c I am too grown up for that" phase. I love that sweater and think you should still try to wear it. melina bee

One of my friends appliques T-shirts and donates the money to a charity, and I custom ordered a unicorn shirt. I even added that I wanted the horn and tail to be rainbow. So I'm a 20 year old dork, but it's great!

Well, I'm (much) older than you, so missed this fad - but I think your mom's sweater is much nicer than the commercial pictures. My daughter (now nearly 13) loved "my little pony" when she was little, but has moved on. Now she likes "Charlie the Unicorn"...(google, if you don't know)... Fun posting!

Your mom is so awesome. :) This post is especially meaningful to me today as I toil away on costumes for a fancy Egyptian mummy, a dryad, and a ballerina. I feel a kinship with the Crafty Moms of the World.

Rainbows and Unicorns! And sneaker roller skates! (Wheelies - pfft!) These are the things my pre-teen years were made of ("tweens" - pfft!).

I had my unicorn spiral notebook, filled with unicorn drawings (that I made while wearing my sparkle rainbow t-shirt), but I was soooo jealous of a friend from school. She had a rainbow unicorn MURAL in her bedroom. Painted by a professional artist. Filling one entire wall (the unicorn was practically life-sized). This was 1982 - WAY before the Mural in Every Child's Room movement.

You are really talented. Best of luck to you and your sewing endeavors. I'm not shame to ask if you would check out my new book, "50 Ways To Make Money Sewing." Maybe this book can help add to your already successful sewing career. Take care and best to you.